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Failure in Motion: A Framework for Capability Erosion and Institutional Dysfunction
Get PDFDrawing on the literature on capability erosion and institutional dysfunction (ID), this study develops a conceptual framework that sheds new light on how the interaction between capability erosion and ID creates conditions for business failure across borders. By articulating two dimensions of heterogeneous capability and resource erosion (i.e., sudden and incremental) and two types of ID (i.e., formal and informal), the paper clarifies the nature of, and mechanisms through which, organizations become increasingly susceptible to the risks of obsolescence and resource erosion that culminate in business failure. The analysis explicates the dynamic and intricate interplay between capability erosion and the institutional difference hypothesis, highlighting the role of time and the pace at which failure manifests. The resulting multidimensional typology advances a more practice‐oriented scholarly discourse on business failure worldwide
Structure, function, and applications of two novel phage recombinases from extreme environments.
Get PDFThis study describes the identification and characterization of two new extremophilic phage recombinases, UvsXt and UvsXp, discovered through metagenomic analysis within the Virus-X project, and explores their potential applications in biotechnology. DNA recombinases are essential for maintaining genome integrity across all kingdoms of life by facilitating homologous recombination and repairing double-stranded DNA breaks. Their capacity to bind and stabilize single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) has led to wide-ranging applications in molecular biology. UvsXt and UvsXp show homology with known bacterial RecA and viral UvsX recombinases, including conservation of key catalytic residues and DNA-binding motifs. Biochemical assays reveal that both enzymes exhibit superior DNA strand-exchange activity compared to Escherichia coli RecA. High-resolution crystal structures of UvsXt (2.0 Å) and UvsXp (2.6 Å) confirm a conserved RecA-like core fold, with distinct structural variation at the N-terminus responsible for oligomerization. However, in spite of their similarities, we show that neither enzyme is capable to functionally replace RecA in E. coli. Their remarkable thermostability and functionality across diverse chemical environments highlights their robustness for biotechnological use. Notably, UvsXt enhances loop-mediated isothermal amplification of viral RNA by stabilizing ssDNA intermediates. These findings expand the repertoire of thermostable recombinases with potential utility in diagnostic applications
Back To the Future: Future Advances in Organizational Dark Personality Research
No full textThis article charts new directions for dark personality research in organizations by moving beyond static trait approaches that oversimplify dark traits as uniformly beneficial for individuals yet harmful for others. The contributions in this Special Issue demonstrate the need for this shift, highlighting the paradoxical nature of dark traits, revealing how their impact is contingent on crucial interactions, such as leader fear of power loss and follower integrity, while also exposing the systemic ‘demand’ for these traits and the significant methodological challenges in their measurement. Building on these articles, we outline five transformative avenues for future research: (1) examining dynamic, state-level trait expressions and non-linear effects; (2) mapping contextual moderators such as organizational culture, power dynamics, and follower characteristics; (3) investigating gendered manifestations and evaluations; (4) exploring group-level and organizational dark personality climates; and (5) advancing methodological innovations through AI-enhanced assessments, experience sampling, multi-method designs and social network analysis. We argue that future research should embrace the complexity of dark traits, examining when they function as assets or liabilities, how they fluctuate across situations, and how they emerge collectively in teams. Reframing dark traits as components of complex adaptive systems, rather than fixed, “villainous” dispositions, can yield actionable insights for selection, intervention, and organizational design, enabling organizations to harness their potential while mitigating their destructive risks
Specific Learning Difficulties: Disparities in Identification
Get PDFThis study investigates disparities in the identification of specific learning difficulties (SpLD) in England. We estimated multilevel logistic regression models on National Pupil Database records for approximately 540,000 Year 6 students across 14,800 schools. Student-level predictors included academic performance in reading and math, gender, English as an additional language (EAL) status, mobility status, and individual economic deprivation indicator; school-level predictors included average school reading and math attainment, proportion of EAL students, and average deprivation. Substantial between-school variation in SpLD identification was observed. After controlling for attainment and student background characteristics, EAL students had markedly lower odds of identification. Similarly, female students were less likely to be identified for SpLD than their male peers. Furthermore, higher average school-level deprivation predicted reduced identification odds. These findings highlight that systemic and contextual factors, alongside individual learning profiles, shape SpLD identification and raise concerns about equitable access to assessment and support for a diverse group of learners
Novel scroll tip modification: development and validation of scroll expander for compressed-air energy storage
Get PDFScroll expanders are promising components for micro-scale Compressed-Air Energy Storage (mCAES) systems due to their compactness, oil-free operation, and high efficiency. However, their performance is highly sensitive to both scroll geometry and the matching of built-in volume ratio (Rv) with operating pressure. This study investigates a novel scroll tip modification called Lip Spoiler (LS) and is aimed at improving expansion ratio, eliminating suction blockage, and enabling efficient expansion within shorter scroll lengths. A fully deterministic 1-D MATLAB model was adapted and experimentally validated using three scroll expander prototypes with different built-in volume ratios (Rv = 3.5, 3.0, and 2.5). Results show that reducing Rv from 3.5 to 2.5, in consistent with a 3-bara inlet pressure, achieves adaptive expansion, leading to a 12 % increase in isentropic efficiency and a 27 % improvement in power output. Incorporating the LS tip design at Rv = 2.5 further enhances performance, reaching 72 % efficiency and 176 W output, representing a 32 % power gain compared to the baseline design. These findings demonstrate that both precise volume ratio selection and scroll tip optimization are critical for maximizing scroll expander performance in CAES systems, offering a scalable and efficient solution for renewable energy storage
From Ice to Isolation: A geochemical reconstruction of the palaeoenvironmental evolution of Gairloch, NW Scotland (UK), since the Last Glacial Maximum
Get PDFComplex relative sea‐level (RSL) changes are associated with the deglaciation of the British and Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS). Sediment archives from Loch Bad na h‐Achlaise, an isolation basin in NW Scotland, UK, span Late Glacial to Holocene time and record sea‐level change and ice proximity via a geochemical and biostratigraphic multiproxy approach. Osmium and carbon isotope, carbon and nitrogen content, and X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) data suggest that the basal sedimentary unit reflects a glaciomarine depositional setting, a finding previously unresolved due to an inadequate biostratigraphic framework. The 187Os/188Os record from the basin captures the RSL history of this site and illustrates the interplay between the local signal of glacial isostatic adjustment and the non‐local signal of glacio‐eustatic sea‐level rise. By coupling the 187Os/188Os data with a detailed age–depth model, our study demonstrates a period of RSL fall between 16.2 and 15.9 cal ka BP, which culminates in basin isolation. The close agreement between the biostratigraphy, where available, and the 187Os/188Os record confirms the viability of this isotope system as an RSL proxy not reliant on microfossil preservation and thus a potentially effective approach when poor microfossil preservation hampers palaeoenvironmental reconstruction
Graph coloring via quantum optimization on a Rydberg-qudit atom array
Get PDFNeutral atom arrays have emerged as a versatile candidate for the embedding of hard classical optimization problems. Prior work has focused on mapping problems onto finding the maximum independent set of weighted or unweighted unit disk graphs. In this paper we introduce a new approach to solving natively-embedded vertex graph coloring problems by performing coherent annealing with Rydberg-qudit atoms, where different same-parity Rydberg levels represent a distinct label or color. We demonstrate the ability to robustly find optimal graph colorings for chromatic numbers up to the number of distinct Rydberg states used, in our case k = 3. We analyze the impact of both the long-range potential tails and residual inter-state interactions, proposing encoding strategies that suppress errors in the resulting ground states. We discuss the experimental feasibility of this approach and propose extensions to solve higher chromatic number problems, providing a route towards direct solution of a wide range of real-world integer optimization problems using near-term neutral atom hardware
From order to chaos: the blurred out metallicity gradient of the Gaia -Enceladus/Sausage progenitor
Get PDFThe powerful combination of Gaia with other Milky Way large survey data has ushered in a deeper understanding of the assembly history of our Galaxy, which is marked by the accretion of Gaia-Enceladus/Sausage (GES). As a step towards reconstructing this significant merger, we examine the existence and destruction of its stellar metallicity gradient. We investigate eight GES-like progenitors from the Auriga simulations and find that all have negative metallicity gradients at infall with a range of −0.14 to −0.05 dex kpc−1 against radius and −2.54 to −0.42 dex/ against the stellar orbital energy. These gradients get blurred and become shallower when measured at in the Milky Way-like host. The percentage change in the radial metallicity gradient is consistently high (89–97 per cent), while the percentage change in the energy space varies much more (17–70 per cent). We also find that the most massive progenitors show the smallest changes in their energy metallicity gradients. At the same present-day galactocentric radius, lower metallicity stars originate from the outskirts of the GES progenitor. Similarly, at fixed metallicity, stars at higher galactocentric radii tend to originate from the GES outskirts. We find that the GES stellar mass, total mass, infall time, and the present-day Milky Way total mass are correlated with the percentage change in metallicity gradient, both in radius and in energy space. It is therefore vital to constrain these properties further to pin down the infall metallicity gradient of the GES progenitor and understand the onset of such ordered chemistry at cosmic noon
How much can we learn from resolved stellar kinematics of galactic haloes using action-based dynamical models?
Get PDFDynamical models are used to study dark matter (DM) in galaxies, how galaxies assemble through mergers, and to test galaxy formation models. Despite its widespread use, there has been no systematic study quantifying how much information can be obtained from just two on-sky positions and line-of-sight velocities, which are typically available for nearby external galaxies. In this work, we introduce axisymmetric, action-based dynamical models that use the positions and velocities of stellar halo stars to jointly constrain the total mass distribution of galaxies and the underlying DM component, as well as the stellar halo phase-space distribution. We rigorously test the method using both idealized equilibrium galaxy mocks and cosmological hydrodynamical simulations from the Auriga suite, systematically assessing how its performance degrades as the available phase–space information is progressively reduced. We further examine the impact of galaxy inclination, modelling assumptions, and methodological systematics on the recovered mass profiles. A crucial development in this work is the improved marginalization of the model likelihood over missing phase-space dimensions. Our models successfully recover the total and DM mass distributions, as well as the kinematic properties of the stellar tracers, within the derived confidence intervals. However, we find that with limited (3D or 4D) phase-space information, the flattening of the DM halo cannot be constrained with any degree of certainty. Nevertheless, the recovered mass profile is insensitive to the flattening. This finding is independently validated by Schwarzschild modelling tests
From Repertoires to Recipes: Rethinking Political Organisation in the Long 19th Century
Get PDFThis article examines approaches to the history of 19th‐century politics in Britain and Ireland in order to propose fruitful directions for further debate. It argues that historians should return to a more holistic view of the practices of political action and democratisation, reframing the divide between social movements, parties and popular politics through a focus on organising. We propose a shift from foregrounding franchise extension as the principal narrative of the 19th century and to focus instead on forms of organising political participation as means of asserting and developing practices of popular sovereignty throughout the period. Recipes – rather than repertoires – offer a metaphor for variety and change in the ingredients and environments for organising. This article emphasises a comparative and global framework for understanding practices of politics, including organising, in the British Isles
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